the difference between leadership and bargaining

I'm hopeful that sometime in the next 3 weeks we'll know Sen. McCain's running mate.

Should he wait? Well, there's a case for a delay, the most common of which is that waiting to make the decision until after the Dem nominee--likely Obama--has made THEIR choice would allow McCain to choose "geographically" to strengthen his ticket.

I don't think he'll play that way. And I hope I'm right.

Listen, McCain didn't win the nomination because he did anything particularly pundit-friendly, which the move above would certainly be. And we have to remember that he won the nomination convincingly.

And he won that nomination by being what he is: an authentic leader, out in front and not backing down from a fight.

So whatever advantage there may be in waiting, I don't think he follows that path. You see, "waiting" to see what the other guy does isn't leadership. It's some form of bargaining where you voluntarily give the other guy the initiative in the contest. And that's a strategy that alpha males don't follow.

Did you ever see a group of football captains happy that their team lost the coin toss at the start of overtime in a playoff game?

That isn't McCain's way. He is right now figuring out the area that he figures to need the most help in to make his ticket as attractive as possible. And he will choose his VP candidate accordingly.

And he will choose it soon.